Winter Open Water Swimming

Anyone new to Open Water swimming is likely to find a whole bunch of challenges, from fear of the unknown (‘what the hell just touched my leg’ – you know its usually weed, but there is ALWAYS that single moment of What If It Isnt) to fear of the very much known (‘That swan is swimming straight at me’). You could possibly be struggling with new equipment, maybe a wetsuit that’s that little bit too tight, or just the huge difficulty of swimming in a straight line without a big black line on the bottom of the pool to follow.

When it gets really cold there are a bunch of other issues you may need to deal with.

A bunch of my friends and I are planning to tackle the Neptune steps (https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/events/red-bull-neptune-steps-uk/neptune-steps-2018-results) at the end of March. A four hundred and twenty metre swim isn’t particularly challenging but the addition of the loch gates as obstacles makes it more interesting and the fact that the Glaswegian water is around six degrees is the very definition of a game changer. I’m an experienced UK Scuba Instructor who has dived all year round in these sorts of temperatures but I’m very aware of the problems this could pose.

My local lake in Sandhurst (https://horseshoelakeactivitycentre.co.uk/) is staffed by a brilliant team who have been opening for winter open water sessions throughout the season, and we’ve made a real effort to get in there and acclimatise to the idea of plunging into freezing cold water. With the relatively small numbers of swimmers it cannot possibly be cost effective for them to be open but they recognise that (some) of the community need to utilise the space regardless of temperature. They are always there with hot tea and coffee ready when we are done – Its hugely appreciated by a lot of the local customers and I know a lot of lakes up and down the country do the same.

This weekend just gone, the lake temperature was a relatively balmy six degrees centigrade (to put this in perspective a May triathlon with a lake swim would probably be around eleven to twelve degrees. Later on, you would be swimming well into the twenties).

Walking into water this cold is challenging, there’s no other way to describe it. But it is a million times easier when you know what to expect. There is several minutes of severe unpleasantness as icy cold water seeps in through your wetsuit zip and as it hits the small of your back, you probably hit peak uncomfortableness. After a minute or two your wetsuit starts to do it’s job and warms up the layer of water you have trapped and it rapidly stops being an issue. If you know you can (and will) get through this phase it really does make things easier.

I would very much advise making sure you are wearing a well fitting wetsuit with no significant tears – one too loose would obviously be bad but one that is too tight could be even more of an issue. You can cheat a little with the cold water coming in – if you fill a sports bottle with warmish water and squirt it down the back of your neck just before you go in you are potentially reducing how much water will be drawn in through the zip.

I’m firmly in favour of striding confidently into the water with a minimum of squealing until I’ve got the water up to shoulder level; some of my friends are significantly less manly as they enter. I’m still squeaking, just making sure I do it quietly while facing away from any spectators.

When teaching students to dive in cold water I’d always make sure they splashed their faces with cold water several times then dunked their faces in the water for ten seconds or so before beginning the dive. The shock of cold water can trigger the mammalian dive reflex and cause an unwanted response (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_shock_response) that can result in hyperventilation and fainting. Just a few seconds of immersion face first can greatly ease this effect, so I’ve always made sure to do the same when swimming. It really seems to help, and I’d suggest this immersion of your face into the water is probably the most important thing you can do.

Once properly in the water I’d then try to ease into something like eighty meters of front crawl; face down, breathing to the side and making sure I keep my stroke steady and measured. Having picked my destination point and swum to it I usually then sit up and do thirty-forty meters of breaststroke while I mentally regroup. This just gives me a few moments to look around, and make sure I’m calm and collected. My hands and feet, if unprotected will usually tingle/lightly burn with icy needles at this point, but already this is settling down. After that, I can launch into my swim as usual, although you do seem to get tired a lot quicker in exceptionally cold water.

I think all of this works just fine in water temps around the six degrees mark; however last time we swum it was four degrees. A tiny temperature differential but it made a huge difference. You’ll notice from the photo at the head of the page that I’m actually wearing three hats – an inner latex hat that grips my head tightly, an middle neoprene hat that insulates my head from the water and an outer latex hat to make sure I was clearly visible to the safety team.

If I was more of a clothes horse I might have looked in the mirror and made sure they were lined up, but I always know I’m going to look ridiculous regardless(The hat can be seen here https://amzn.to/2E9ybQ4; my local lake do stock equivalents but in my case I knew I really didn’t want one like the one modelled above by my friend Stuart with a neck strap – I didn’t want anything putting pressure on my carotid, YMMV. I was worried about the lack of security without a neck strap, but so far it’s shown no sign of shifting after a number of swims).

I was, however, swimming without boots and gloves, and after much less distance than I’d been hoping for lurched out of the water clutching twisted claws to my chest and yelling ‘My Hands!!! They Burn!!!’ like a mad scientist on a stormy night. Although they quickly warmed up again, I’ve never had this as an issue before at temperatures only a little warmer – but I have friends and family (all much skinnier) who have. In the event that you are affected like this, there are a number of neoprene glove and boot options that might help.

So why would you want do this? As usual, there are a number of reasons why you might want to – in my case this year, its through self preservation and I want to be ready for what I know is going to be a tough event by removing some of the potential issues. There’s a lot to be said for just wanting to do it to show you can – and I know a number of the swimmers near me have been proving to themselves and everyone else just how awesome they can be.

You do feel great when you get out – I think there’s an old Doctor joke about hitting yourself with hammer because of how good it feels when you stop, but it’s not like that – endorphins and adrenaline are flowing, your circulation is going like the clappers and for possibly obvious reasons you feel much more awake than you will have done going in. I also discovered this weekend it’s an extremely effective way to shift a mild hangover.

Chatting to one fellow swimmer after this weekends swim, he told me he was swimming to train for the Serpentine two mile swim – a late September swim where the temperature is likely to be around 15 degrees. I can’t help but admire his (probably misplaced) determination to prepare as thoroughly as possible.

The ones who never fail to blow me away however, are the certifiable lunatics who go in every time in speedos. Mentally, I can kind of understand that what they are doing is not hugely different, but when it comes to guts, I just don’t think I’m there. And that in itself is a dangerous thought as I’m now wondering why not… Thank god I think we’ve just had the last winter swim session at the lake.

If you fancy giving it a go, go see if your local open water swimming center is running winter sessions; they would love to see you and will always appreciate the support.

In the meanwhile, we’ve all done what we can to be ready for the Neptune Steps – although having said that I suspect I really ought to start doing pull ups….

Key Points:

• Familiarity can make a real difference to tolerance to cold shock
• Your Wetsuit must fit as well as possible
• Make sure to immerse your face in the water for at least ten seconds before attempting to swim – longer is better
• Tingling extremities is normal and will probably fade within a minute or two allowing you to swim relatively normally, but…
• Understand the temperature and what it means for you and adjust equipment and duration accordingly. Start short if necessary, and be prepared to get out if it’s not going to plan.
• Be prepared to at least look at cold water specific kit like hats, gloves, boots.